Stanley
DE PERE, WI (WTAQ) — He’s everyone’s “man’s best friend” at the De Pere Fire Department; Stanley is a 10 week old Australian Labradoodle training to be a therapy dog. The department sought out this specific breed due to them being hypoallergenic and a generally calm breed.
After being at the fire department for just one week, Chief Alan Matzke says right now Stanley is learning basic obedience.
“From that, he’ll go through good citizenship training, which is 10 steps he has to be able to accomplish to get that good citizenship award,” said Chief Matzke. “Once he’s awarded that, we’ll start embarking on his therapy training.”
Therapy training will take anywhere between 2-6 months.
Stanley came to the De Pere Fire Department as a result of a fundraiser started by a local family after they experienced an unexpected event.
On December 24, 2021 at 4:45 a.m. the department was dispatched to a home after their daughter was quickly and unexpectedly born in their home. In honor of the child’s first birthday in 2022, the family started a fundraiser for a therapy dog as a way to say ‘thank you’. Ten thousand dollars was raised for the purchase, training, and well-being of the dog.
When Stanley is fully trained, his role will aid the mental health of firefighters and EMTs as they encounter difficult scenarios. Stanley will also serve the community when traumatic events occur.
“I’ve never seen so many smiles in the last week. He’s definitely doing his job. Everyone loves Stanley,” said Lea Taylor, executive assistant at the fire department, “He’s very gentle, he loves to cuddle, I think he’s going to do a great job here.”
Stanley will be fully trained in about 6 months to a year.
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